27 March 2007

I just came off the strangest shift. I worked a nine-hour overnight and saw about 22 or 23 patients. That is a nice pace -- busy but manageable. I never really caught up, but never fell too far behind. The weird thing? I saw two chief complaints:

Febrile child

Abdominal pain

Seriously, that's it. No falls, no headaches, no drunks (on an overnight!), no chest pains, no psych. Just febrile children and abdominal pains (in about a 2-1 ratio). It would have been cool if there had been a febrile child with a tummyache to get the cross-over, but it wasn't to be. Confusingly, the belly pains all got lined up in rooms 6, 7, 8, and 9. I almost told the wrong female that she was unexpectedly pregnant (oooops) but I caught myself just in time.

Pleasingly, most all the abdominal pains wound up with relatively definite diagnoses, and all of the kids were fine -- none "needed" an x-ray, IV, bloods, etc. For 90% I just gave my standard virus/fever speech and sent happy and reassured parents on their way. There were a couple of red eardrums I gave amoxicillin to.

The shift ends at 7, and I walked out the door at 7:05. Weird but satisfying.

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Shadowfax

About me: I am an ER physician and administrator living in the Pacific Northwest. I live with my wife and four kids. Various other interests include Shorin-ryu karate, general aviation, Irish music, Apple computers, and progressive politics. My kids do their best to ensure that I have little time to pursue these hobbies.

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